


Chasing the Moon

by moonstalker24



Series: Jaguar Kings [2]
Category: Blade (Movie Series), Fast Five (2011), Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, M/M, Vampire Carter Verone, Werejaguar Hannibal King, Werejaguar Vince
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5146598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstalker24/pseuds/moonstalker24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Drake himself is pleased. Pleased that Hannibal will have his brother back, and pleased that he will have yet another Jaguar Warrior at his side. Drake will not try to tie the shapeshifter to him, but the offer of work to do while he’s with them will be a good thing. If Vincent is anything like Hannibal, it is best to keep him busy.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>After sacrificing himself to save Dom and Brian in Rio, Vince calls his brother for help. From there, everything changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing the Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Casey_Wolfe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casey_Wolfe/gifts).



> A sequel to One Leap.
> 
> I couldn't help myself, because Hannibal and Vince would make awesome brothers, and since they never told us what Vince's last name is, I've taken liberties. I felt inspired. So, yeah.
> 
> This one doesn't quite have the resolution that One Leap does. It's more of a what happens to bring them together kind of fic. *shrugs* I like it. There may be another part, maybe not. I haven't decided yet.
> 
> A note on the lore in this AU. Drake made Carter, which makes him a Daywalker. Carter made Enrique and Roberto, and because the line is direct from Drake through Carter, they're Daywalkers too, just not as strong as Carter.
> 
> Title comes from the Mary Lambert song of the same name.

**Chasing the Moon**

 

Vincent King has watched his life spin out too many times to be comfortable with what he can see coming. He’s got Brian and Mia scarfing down food in his kitchen like they haven’t eaten in days; they probably haven’t. Rosa was kin, kind enough to take in an old childhood friend; but Vince isn’t willing to bring danger down on her head.

Not when she’s got that little boy to care for.

Dom hasn’t arrived yet. Which is… a blessing actually. It gives Vince a little longer to think over his options. He knows that if he takes Brian and Mia on the job tomorrow something will go wrong. No offense to the Buster; Vince likes him just fine; but, well, trouble follows the blonde around. Vince doesn’t have the time or inclination to drag himself down to help out.

Not here.

Rio is not a safe place for his kind. Hell, South America is not a safe place for his kind. Legends, rumors and the presence of actual Jaguars root deep superstitions in the people. He knows for a fact that the gang watching his back here in the favela will turn on him in a split second if they so much as catch wind of his true nature.

“Any word from Dom?” Brian asks when he finally pulls his head up from his empty plate.

Vince frowns, but reaches over to dish a second helping onto Brian’s plate. He cocks his eyebrow at Mia and gestures with the serving spoon. She smiles gratefully and lifts her plate toward him. He wishes in that moment like hell that he didn’t feel some sort of familial obligation to her and Dom.

“Not yet,” he rasps. He’s going to regret it, but he offers to let them in on the job anyway.

*

He’s right, he regrets it. He gets shot in the stomach, not something he can get by without saying anything and letting heal on its own. He holds back his healing as much as he can. He’s done it before to cover his tracks. The spiral scar up his arm is evidence of that. He tells Dom to look after Rosa and her boy, because what they’ve brought down on her head she doesn’t deserve.

When he passes out all bets are off. He can’t control how quickly he heals when he’s unconscious.

He wakes up a while later, achy all over but healed. The street is vacant, the smoking remains of vehicles and men are a good indication that he’s only been out for a little while. He’s been left behind, which means that Dom thinks he’s pretty damn dead. That is both a good and bad thing.

He can hear sirens off in the distance. Still too far away to be a major factor, but the cops aren’t his main worry. The thugs of the favelas will be crawling all over the place soon. He’ll be lucky if he’s got a few minutes to get the hell out of here.

He doesn’t waste any time. He kicks his way out of the humvee and shifts before he dashes away from the wreckage. Bones shudder and shift and he’s on four legs and much faster than in his human skin. He dashes down the closest alley. He’s a huge jaguar in Rio, he’s noticeable. He’ll be far away from here and on his way out of the country long before anyone thinks to suspect what he is.

He’ll have to cross Brazil off his list of places he can visit.

He just sacrificed his life for Dom. He sort of feels like he doesn’t owe the other man anything anymore. It’s been a long time since they met. A long time since Mama moved them into the little house in Echo Park, away from the wilderness he and his brother had spent their time as cubs in. Dom had rescued him from a bunch of older kids that first day at school when he went to his brother’s defense.

The rest was history. Vince had a friend of his own for the first time. He was loathe to admit it, but his wanting to keep his friend to himself had probably played a part in why Hannibal had left as soon as he could.

Mama dying had probably played factor. Vince was fifteen, Hannibal was thirteen and Mama had gone out to hunt and never come home. They’d managed to stave off CPS for a while, but before the first year was up, Mama’s body had been discovered and identified in the woods up north. Dom’s dad took Vince in three days after they got put in the group home.

Hannibal had already run away by then.

Vince breaks into a small shop halfway across the city. It’s dark now. He yanks cloths off the rack and breaks the lock on the office easily. He dresses, drinks bottled water and eats snacks pilfered from the break room. Sits down to rest for a few minutes.

Things with Hannibal had been strained for a long time. They rarely saw each other, but they talked. They went from being best friends to distant brothers. It had gotten Vince’s back up, but until one or the other of them got less stubborn, it would probably remain that way.

Then Hannibal went missing.

Vince had flown across the country to look for his brother. Esperanto was one of those cities that just screamed that its shadows had shadows. It had swallowed Vince’s brother whole; and after four months Vince had finally had to give up his search. He never believed that Hannibal was dead, but as time wore on it had started to feel less likely that his little brother would just show up out of the blue one day.

No matter how much he hoped.

And then one day he’d gotten a phone call. Hannibal had been hoarse, tired and wanted to see him. They’d both started driving, meeting somewhere in the middle. They spent three weeks together reconnecting. Hannibal had been snatched by vampires and turned. He was determined to kill the ones that had taken his animal away from him. Vince had wished him luck and said to call if he needed help.

They had parted with an agreement. Weekly phone calls.

Neither one had missed a single call until Vince had to go and get caught in a cable on the side of an eighteen wheeler. Hannibal showed up in his hospital room and mocked him for having to heal the human way.

Vince reaches over and picks up the phone. He silently apologizes to the owner of the shop for the international phone bill he’s about to get. Then he dials.

“Hey bro, it’s me. Yeah. I need help."

*

Drake is amenable to going out of their way to pick up Vince. They’ve been traveling all over the world the last year, cleaning up the mess. They’ve wiped out entire clans, beaten others into line. It’s tiring work. Hannibal is getting sick of the sycophants that seem to crop up everywhere they go.

It’ll be nice to see his brother. Maybe take him back to Budapest and introduce him to the Sommerfields.

Budapest. That’s where Drake decided to set up home base. Hannibal likes it. The city is amazing, the country beautiful. It’s also linked to so much that sometimes he feels like Budapest is the true center of the world.

Maybe it is, for their kind anyway.

Hannibal hasn’t really dealt in human affairs in years. He’s the consort of the King of Vampires. He’s a shapeshifter. He doesn’t have much reason to really care about human politics and squabbles. As true mates, Hannibal’s lifespan will match Drake’s, whatever that will be. They’re going to live a very long time

They land the jet on a private strip attached to Rio’s international airport. They need to refuel the jet and visit a familiar named Victor Reyes who slipped his leash and killed the Master of Rio some time ago. Drake can do that on his own though, Hannibal will be with Vince.

Drake himself is pleased. Pleased that Hannibal will have his brother back, and pleased that he will have yet another Jaguar Warrior at his side. Drake will not try to tie the shapeshifter to him, but the offer of work to do while he’s with them will be a good thing. If Vincent is anything like Hannibal, it is best to keep him busy.

Hannibal takes a car and vanishes into the night to retrieve his brother. Drake gets into another to go and deal with Reyes, who has just had his ass handed to him by a bunch of resourceful humans. They cut a swathe of destruction across the city and absconded with all of the drug lord’s illicitly gotten money

It’s hilarious.

Drake’s new company (King Consolidated, Drake doesn’t have a surname, so his mate was kind enough to share his.) will absorb Reyes’ corporation after he’s dealt with the wayward familiar. Doing so will bring stability back to the city and a measure of safety back as well. Reyes will remain as a figurehead, but Drake intends to leave Asher here to oversee everything.

Asher has proven himself to be a very good subordinate. Drake had actually rewarded him by making him a Daywalker a few months ago. Asher Talos is now the corporate face of the vampire kingdom.

It frees Drake up for other things.

*

Hannibal pulls up to the curb at the moment that had been agreed upon and Vince slips into the car with gleaming eyes. Hannibal wants to throw himself at his brother, so he does. It’s not like he’s driving the car, so whatever. Vince grunts, but returns it.

Vince is an inch shorter than Hannibal, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in sheer bulk. Hannibal is long and lean, Vince is a powerhouse. Otherwise they’re similar in most respects. Hair color, beard. Vince has a few tattoos and Hannibal has a claiming bite set into the juncture of his neck.

“You mated?” Vince demands as the brothers pull away from each other. The car glides away from the curb. “Is it the vampire?” Vince demands, “Drake?”

“Yep,” Hannibal says with a grin.

Vince grins back, “It’s good to see you, brother.”

A few minutes of silence pass before either of them speaks. They let the car get to speed as the city passes them by on the way to the airport. They had originally intended to stay in Rio long enough for Drake to truly deal with Reyes, but with Vince needing help, the plan has changed. Not a big deal, Asher is a better business man anyway.

“So, talk to me,” Hannibal prompts.

They may have spoken last week, but a lot has happened since. Brian and Mia showing up, the bad job. Dom. The plan to take out Reyes. Telling the story now Vince can see how badly it was going to go, how one of them was going to get shot and die. Bad luck it had to be him. Or… maybe it’s not bad luck. Maybe Vince can stop hiding and just be himself, fur and fangs and all.

He’s always had to be so damn careful around everyone. Always had to watch his strength, how hard his grip was. He’s short tempered, which means he’s known for a clenched jaw and a massive glare when he’s pissed because he’s never been able to contain his fangs. He’s known Dom for years and he’s never told Dom what he is.

It’s never felt safe.

But here, in this world that Hannibal is part of. In the world that Vince belongs in, he won’t have to hide it. Drake loves Hannibal’s jaguar form, Hannibal has told him enough. All Vince has to do is say the word and he’s got a place here.

After he finishes talking and Hannibal has whistled lowly and mocked him a little (as brothers do), Vince sits back with a sigh, “So, where are we going?”

Hannibal grins, eyes flashing feline green and gold, fangs showing. Vince can’t help flashing his own eyes back at Hannibal, it’s instinctive. They’ve spent more time together as jaguars than they have human. “Argentina. Buenos Aires to be specific. Drake’s got a child there that’s survived the years awake and sane. We’re going to visit.”

Vince’s brow creases, “So, we’re talking a Daywalker?”

“One of the few. Vamps like Drake are a hell of a lot different than the kind you find on the street corner.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Oh, believe me, it is.”

*

Drake is power. He’s solid, and stoic and everything about him is power and control. He’s a perfect match for Hannibal. Vince knows his brother, knows how distracted and energetic he can get. Drake’s very presence calms Hannibal, helps him center. Vince can sense the bond between them.

He decides he likes Drake.

“It is good you are with us,” Drake tells him. The plane is flying steadily toward Argentina, and Hannibal is asleep, head propped against the window. “He’s missed you more than he’s willing to admit.”

Vince smiles a little, eyes on Hannibal. “I’ve missed him, too,” he tells the Vampire King. “We’ve both been so busy these last few years, it’ll be nice to spend time together.”

Drake nods, “You should go hunting together when we get to Buenos Aires.”

“That sounds awesome,” Vince admits. It’s been a long time since he was properly able to stretch his legs. He may spend most of his time in his human skin, but his jaguar form feels more like his than his human one does. “Perfect actually.”

Drake nods. Vince can tell he’s curious. He wants to ask questions about their childhood. About growing up as Shifters in this modern age. Questions Vince knows Hannibal will not have wanted to answer. Drake refrains.

“You know,” Vince tells him. “None of that stuff matters. You know more about the real Hannibal than you’d ever learn from old stories. He’s more like himself than I’ve seen in years.”

Drake hums in thought, gazing at his mate with soft eyes. “I had lost the hope of finding him, and then there he was.”

“We all give up at some point,” Vince says. “Hell, I’m still looking. You had to go the long way.”

“It was worth it.”

*

Carter was only a few centuries old when his Sire had chosen to sleep. Carter hadn’t understood at the time. Drake had been weary, tired, Carter was still new to the life of a Daywalker. He had been able to feel Drake’s weariness through the Childe-Sire bond, and so hadn’t resented him for choosing to sleep.

He whiles away the centuries by learning new skills and then forgetting them. He takes a shine to crime fairly early. Bounces around organized crime syndicates through the ages. Over time he allows himself to slip further and further away from vampire kind. They become shadows of what they were meant to be. Blood diluted over hundreds of years, the ways of the vampire distorted or forgotten over time.

Carter settles in Buenos Aires. The city is beautiful and a center of culture. He likes it. He has lived there since 1891 and been influential in politics in the city since. He’s left for a while (his recent stint as a Miami crime boss is a prime example) but he always returns to his city. And the city is his. He rules the vampire population of Buenos Aires with an iron fist. He holds the vampires to the standards of centuries past.

It is one of only three cities in the world that Drake had not needed to crash down upon with the rage of thousands of years spent sleeping. The other two (Tokyo and Madrid) are no surprise to Carter, they’re ruled by his surviving siblings Oishi and Serafina.

Carter is a little jealous that Drake visited both of his siblings before coming to see him, but it balances out with the fact that Drake’s visit to Buenos Aires will be the longest.

“Sir,” Enrique says softly, and Carter turns from the floor to ceiling windows showing his city coming to life as the sun sinks below the horizon. “The plane has landed.”

“Good,” Carter tells him. “Take Roberto with you to pick them up, I have to deal with Mikaela.”

Enrique nods and leaves the room as quietly as he entered it. Carter paces over to his desk to retrieve his jacket. He’ll deal with the little Russian princess, remind her who it is she’s trying to pull one over on, and then he will enjoy meeting with Drake and his new mate.

Mate. Carter is happy for Drake. Over the years Carter has come to feel the loneliness Drake must have felt when he chose to sleep. He has whiled away the years searching for his own mate, never finding them. He has considered sleeping twice, and in each case chose not to. Instead he created the only two Childer he’s ever made.

Enrique had been first, during the first crusade. Roberto had followed several centuries later while Carter was playing at pirates. He has never regretted turning either man. They have been enough to keep Carter going, though he’s starting to feel that deep longing again.

He shakes off his melancholy thoughts as the familiar that works as his secretary leads Mikaela Romanova into his office. Carter looks at the spoiled girl, the child of a Russian Mob boss that Carter has been in business with for many years, and hopes he doesn’t have to kill her.

The mess would hardly be worth it.

*

If anyone had bothered to notice them, the sight of two fully grown Jaguars vanishing into the undergrowth of the jungle at the edge of the city, they would have thought it strange. Strange to see a jaguar so close to the city, much less two together. Jaguars are elusive, solitary creatures. No one is around to see them though, and they vanish into the jungle with nary a sound.

*

“Your city is quite beautiful,” Drake says when Carter joins him.

“I’m rather attached,” Carter remarks, then hugs his Sire. “It’s good to see you.”

Drake smiles fondly at him, “Likewise. It’s been good to know you and your siblings have made it this far.”

Carter scoffs, “As if you doubted us.” The doubt had been there. Neither of them mentions Aeric. “Where’s your mate?” Carter asks, curious.

“We stopped in Rio to pick up his brother,” Drake says. “They haven’t seen each other in some time, so they went hunting.”

Carter can’t help the laugh that escapes him, “I heard about Reyes. Not surprising, considering who was going against him.”

“You know them?”

“Only two of them. Brian O’Conner and Roman Pearce almost managed to put me in prison.” Carter actually admires both men for the sheer amount of balls they’d shown in Miami. They’d not only been between a rock and a hard place, but they’d managed to play the feds like a banjo while stuck there.

“You sound admiring for one who they defeated.”

“Well, it’s not like it was a duel or anything,” Carter replies. In fact, he’d like to see Brian wielding a sword, it would probably be highly entertaining. “I’m not easily impressed, and O’Conner managed it. I have respect for his abilities, and for Pearce’s sheer force of will.”

Drake nodded, he’d been impressed by the aftermath Vince’s friends had caused. Witnessing it in action must be something else. “We’ll have to keep an eye out for them.”

“They’ll be interesting to watch, that’s for sure.” Carter decides to change the subject, “You met Enrique and Roberto?”

Drake nods, taking the glass of scotch Carter offers him, “You chose well. They are calm, loyal and smart.”

“And good company,” Carter replies. “Also, hilarious when drunk.”

Drake chuckles, “I shall have to see that for myself.”

“I’m sure it can be arranged.”

*

His senses are alert, the energy zinging through his body like a livewire. He hasn’t felt this way in years. Vince looks over to Hannibal and finds that his brother is looking back at him, eyes gleaming. He hasn’t been hunting like this in year. It reminds him of when they were little. Cubs just learning to hunt at Mama’s side.

He rumbles a purr deep in his chest at the memory. It’s a good one.

He licks the blood off his muzzle, hunger satisfied. Hannibal pads over and bumps their heads together affectionately. Vince’s purr amps up a notch and he scent marks his brother in turn. Hannibal bats at him with a big paw playfully, and Vince chuffs, chasing him into the underbrush.

They play fight and chase their way back to the edge of the city where one of Carter’s Childer is waiting for them. Roberto is leaning on the hood of his car with a book in his hand as he waits. He hears them coming and opens the rear door to the limousine for them. The two jaguars jump into the back and Roberto gets into the driver’s seat.

Roberto has heard stories about shifters. He saw a wolf once during the Hundred Years War. Jaguars were rare even when Carter was young, so seeing two now is amazing. The slightly bigger one sticks his head through the partition and rubs his head against Roberto’s, and the vampire has to smile. “We’ll be there soon,” he tells the big cats in the back seat.

Vince and Hannibal agreed that they liked both Roberto and Enrique. They had both had a very calm, unruffled air about them. Vince tries to see if he can startle Roberto by getting up into his personal space, but all the Daywalker does is grin at him.

He’s not afraid of them, he’s just amazed.

*

They talk while they wait for the jaguars to arrive. Carter walks Drake through what he’s been doing over the centuries. His net worth isn’t quite as large as Drake’s, but then most of Carter’s holdings are in the western hemisphere. Drake owns companies the world over.

Drake tells him the tale of his awakening and the subsequent finding if Hannibal. Carter snorts and agrees that Danica Talos met a fitting end. Asher seems a solid sort, and Carter looks forward to working with him. King Consolidated and Verone Inc will be working together closely in the future.

“You will have to visit us in Budapest,” Drake is saying when the elevator doors slide open, admitting two gigantic jaguars that pad quietly across the room.

“I’d like that,” Carter says, watching as one of the two big cats hops up onto the sofa next to Drake and proceeds to drape himself across the Vampire King without any regard as to how Drake might feel about it. Drake only chuckles, running his fingers through his fur. This must be Hannibal.

“It was a good hunt?” Drake asks, and Hannibal rumbles out a loud purr.

Carter nearly jumps a foot in the air when he feels nudging at his hand. The other jaguar, Hannibal’s brother, rumbles at him when he moves away. Carter stares. Vince shakes himself, then rounds the armchair and sets a paw between Carter’s legs and uses the position to boost himself up to scent Carter’s neck.

That’s when it hits him.

He feels like he’s been hit by a freight train. The scent catches in the back of his throat and lingers. Earth and rain and jungle flowers. Mate. Carter lets out a sound that is half distress and half surprise as he buries his hands in soft golden fur and his face in Vince’s neck.

Drake and Hannibal exchange a surprised look. The odds that Drake’s Childe and Hannibal’s brother would be Mates is astronomical. Drake knows how Carter is feeling. He remembers a morning not so long ago when he watched the sun rise over Hannibal’s sleeping form.

“We’ll leave you to talk,” Drake says. He guides Hannibal out of the room toward the room they’ll be staying in for the duration of their stay.

Neither Carter or Vince notices.

Vince pulls away from Carter, and in a ripple of shifting muscles and a crack of bone he’s human again, kneeling in front of the vampire wearing awe and shock across his face. Vince knows he doesn’t look his best. He’s scruffy and scarred, could probably use a haircut and a shower. He’s still got red patches of healing skin where he’d been shot just two days before.

Carter doesn’t seem to care. He reaches out and takes Vince’s face between his hands, whispering: “Where have you been?"

Vince makes a noise in the back of his throat. It’s not a human noise. It’s half-growl, half-mewl. He leans into the gripping hands, clutching at Carter’s thighs as the Mate bond snaps into clarity between them. It feels right, like he’s finally settled into his bones, just like Hannibal had said it would.

“Sorry,” he rasps. “I had a long way to go.”

Carter smiles. He’s been waiting a long time, and Drake was right. The wait is worth it. “You’re here now.”

Vince growls possessively, “And I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” Carter smirks, and pulls the Jaguar up into a searing kiss.

 _Finally_ , both of them think, and kiss again.


End file.
